Secret Code Backpack Chains

Total Time Needed:: 1 Hour

Sometimes it's hard to commit a phone number or locker combination to memory. Here are a couple of innovative ways your child can use letters or colors to record hers.

Materials

Beading cord or hemp
Lanyard hooks or key rings

Assorted lettered or colored beads

Instructions

Tie a long piece of beading cord or hemp to a lanyard hook or key ring.
Write the telephone number or locker combination your child needs to remember on a piece of paper. Then have her choose one of the codes below and string on beads as described.
Tie a secure knot at the end of the strand and trim the ends.
Letter Codes: For a phone number, follow the key (see below in Tips) to select the appropriate letter for each numeral, and use ornamental beads as spacers between the area code, exchange, and last 4 digits. The chain on the left shows part of a phone number with the numbers 31-665.
For a locker combination, use the letters to form double-digit numbers, if needed, stringing spacer beads between them.
Color Codes: To represent a locker combination with colored beads, use one hue to represent units of 10, another for units of 1, and a third as a spacer. For a phone number, simply string together the same color beads so they add up to the correct digit, where 4 green beads in a row equals the number 4 and so on.
You can even add letter beads to the end of the string as a reminder of what number is being coded. For example, MC could stand for Mom's cell phone.